


Meet And Rescue

by FujurPreux



Category: Transformers: Prime, Transformers: Rescue Bots
Genre: Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-07
Updated: 2016-02-07
Packaged: 2018-05-18 17:36:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5937040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FujurPreux/pseuds/FujurPreux
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pre-Rescue Bots. Chief Charlie Burns' very first meeting with Optimus Prime thanks to agent Fowler's efforts. But then Starscream gets involved and literally crashes the party.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Meet And Rescue

Chief Charlie Burns trusted his children. He knew they'd be all right on their own and would be able to take care of any emergency that came up in the couple of days he'd be away. Three of them were already adults, after all, and the smallest one was self-sufficient enough and knew all the emergency protocols and procedures by heart.

The man had been repeating this to himself every half hour since he left Griffin Rock. And, with that, his cell phone went back to his pocket every time. He'd remain firm and only only call them twice a day—once in the morning, once at night—, as they'd agreed. In exchange, they promised to call him if they faced an emergency they couldn't handle. Hopefully, there wouldn't be many of those, even if the general population of Griffin Rock tended to be quite creative to get in trouble.

Chief Burns shook his head to cast those thoughts away, to have the sea breeze take them away. He placed both hands on the handrail of the ferry, the cold of the metal helping to bring him back to the present. Mainland approached fast, and a mystery awaited him there. To be honest, given the nature of his home island, it didn't surprise him that a federal agent with strong ties to the military summoned him to a private meeting. Exactly _why_ was the question, though. The video conference with agent William Fowler convinced him that the man was a serious person and, whatever his proposal was, it was serious as well. What an interesting way to start the week.

 

*

 

Agent Fowler waited for him at the doc, and waved when he recognized Chief Burns coming down from the ferry. Burns waved right back and a few moments later, both men exchanged a firm handshake.

"Thank you for coming," Fowler said.

"It was hard not to feel intrigued," Burns replied.

Fowler nodded as he let go of Burns hand, and then gestured to follow him all the way to a helicopter behind them. "I'll disclose all the pertinent the information as soon as we are in a safe location." He looked around—and above them—a few times, never seemingly satisfied with not being the target of unwanted eyes or ears. "This is a most delicate matter, after all."

"I fully understand that," Burns said as if Fowler hadn't repeated that at least five times during their previous conversation.

The helicopter took off with agent Fowler as the pilot. Chief Burns, the only passenger, looked down as they went up, unable to keep himself from evaluating that technique. It was flawless.

They went further into the mainland, always to the west. Once they reached an inhabited zone, Burns finally heard Fowler's voice through his headset.

"All right…," came first as a whisper, as if Fowler tried to gain courage to talk before he went on. "Just as a measure of precaution, I'll have to ask you to turn your phone off."

Burns, more and more intrigued at each word, complied with the order making a show out of it so Fowler would notice. Then, the device went back into his pocket—as the father behind the officer of the law hoped Murphy's law didn't decide to strike Griffin Rock right then. "Done," he said.

Fowler nodded. "Thank you. This is a very important matter. Lives are at stake here. Not only ours."

But whatever Fowler might mean with that would have to wait—because that was the exact moment when both of them saw the missile headed their way.

"Incoming!" they exclaimed at the same time, with Burns bracing himself while Fowler started evasive maneuvers.

The helicopter turned to the left and went down at the precise moment it needed to escape the impact. The missile, instead of hitting them, crashed into the ground, sending debris so high up into the air Burns felt both relieved and surprised they weren't hit by it.

Surprise and fear were the first feelings to show up, but Chief Burns, seasoned rescue operative, reined them back before they could sink in—there'd be time for that later. Right now, the first priority was to survive. Fowler himself seemed to be doing just that, as he sped up and took an entirely different direction, presumably away from their pursuer. Said pursuer turned out to be an F16 approaching fast from behind them.

"Dammit! This is definitely not how I wanted to introduce you to this madness!" Fowler said.

"What's going on, agent?" Burns asked. He knew better than to distract the pilot in a situation like this, but to survive he needed to know as much as possible. Given the circumstances, it was now or never.

Fowler got it. "Aliens," he began as he flipped a few switches. "Alien robots from outer space. I was going to have you meet the good ones, but one of the bad ones found us first. Team Prime, this is Fowler." he continued on the microphone, although now to the communication channel he'd open. "I need back up. Starscream in pursue. I repeat: Starscream in pursue. I'll send you my coordinates."

"Understood, agent Fowler," came out a deep, grave voice through the headset. "Hang on. We'll be right over."

However, Chief Burns didn't have the time to reflect on how soothing the message was. Less than one second after it finished, Fowler cursed loudly as he dodged two more missiles. And then, a fourth missile grazed the helicopter's tail, shaking them and making them loose all kind of illusion of control.

The next thing Chief Burns knew, he floated down in a parachute. Fowler did as well, which made Burns take a deep breath. No, things were not all right, but it was one less thing to worry about.

But then, something else summed up when he felt the metallic fingers around his torso, plucking him from the air several feet before touching the ground. The lines and the canopy remained hanging from Burns' backpack. No time—or space—to take it off when one had been trapped by the most impressive… creature he'd ever seen.

"Ah! You are new," it said, speaking clearly and slowly with a raspy and cruel voice.

All right. This also was new. Giant, bipedal robots with wings like from an F16 on their backs Burns could roll with. Living in a place like Griffin Rock paid had its perks. Up until there, all normal. However, this robot's movements had a precision and finesse—and a creepiness—hard to achieve with metal parts and even the best programming Burns had ever seen. The hands—claws—twisted slowly and precisely, like some politician about to give a tired speech he believed could still fool the people. But the worst part was the smirk on the robot's face. Not even doctor Green could make his most advanced creation do something like that. Never mind that he wouldn't do it—it was so unnerving.

"Allow me to introduce myself," it continued, the hand not holding Burns pressed against its chest and his head bowed slightly, in a mockery of good manners. "My name is Starscream, second in command of the Decepticon Army. Although if I get my way, it won't be like that for long. Now, tell me: with whom do I have the pleasure?"

"It's none of your business, Screamer!" Fowler yelled from somewhere on the ground. "So you better let him go!"

Starscream looked down as if he tried to find a persistent cockroach. "Agent Fowler, I knew I wasn't lucky enough for you to perish on the crash."

"Ha! You wish I was that weak!" Fowler replied. He stood next to a boulder at a distance not exactly safe from them. Although, what would a safe distance be when dealing with a giant robot armed with missiles?

Meanwhile, Burns took the hint and remained silent. Fowler had said this Starscream was one of the 'bad' guys, which meant he should be kept from knowing what he intended to do with the agent's allies. Furthermore, Burns wasn't a fan of those who endangered others, so he'd refuse to cooperate with him at all, anyway.

"It hasn't escaped my attention that you organics are more resistant than I'd originally given you credit for," Starscream continued. "And yet, that doesn't mean the one I'm holding won't become a mess if I happened to squish him a tad too hard."

As he spoke those words, Starscream tightened his grip enough to make Burns grunt. And even then, the man only glared back at the robot with as much dignity as he could muster.

Starscream's smirk became even crueler when he noticed it.

"Last warning, Starscream," Fowler said. "Let him go."

"Or what?"

Right then, an enormous green portal opened next to them, and another giant robots stepped out from it, a red and blue one, at least about twice the size of Starscream. Fowler's ally, if Starscream's grimace was any indication.

"Or that," Fowler announced with a smirk of his own.

Starscream's face went from panic to anger. "You were stalling! You'll pay for this when I get my hands on you!" he exclaimed as he turned around to flee, transforming back to his F16 mode while still holding Burns—and his parachute.

Chief Burns saw Starscream's metal changing place all around him, and even felt how he began to move from the robot's hand to what he hoped would be the jet's cabin. But then, the whole process stopped as abruptly as it had begun when the lines and the canopy of Burns' parachute tangled all over Starscream's gears.

"What—?" Starscream yelped. "What is happening?"

"That—" Burns began, speaking for the first time since meeting the robot, as he took of his backpack, "—is what you get for not paying attention to what you're actually doing."

"Don't _mock_ me, you— _human_!"

Burns was about to reply he wouldn't dare doing anything of the sort when Starscream's shaking sent him through an opening. Not knowing how high from the ground he was, the man braced himself for a painful landing—

 

—that didn't happen.

Chief Burns opened his eyes to find out another giant hand holding him. A much friendlier one that held him carefully. The other robot looked down at him, the concern obvious on his face.

"Are you all right, chief Burns?" he asked with the same grave, deep voice that answered Fowler's call.

"Yes—yes, thank you," Burns replied. Besides the scare and a few scratches, it was true.

The new robot nodded and pushed Starscream away. It was only then that Burns noticed his former captor stuck mid transformation, vaguely resembling an F16 dancing on chicken legs, like something from a children's tale. The man snorted loudly. So much for something he wouldn't dare to do.

"Begone, Starscream," the robot said. "This day you get to keep your freedom."

Starscream, meanwhile, kept on bouncing. "I promise you, Prime," he panted, "I'm not still here because I want to."

Two more jumps and Burns heard the lines of the parachute snapping, finally allowing Starscream to pull his legs up and take off.

"If anyone is wondering, I got that on video," Fowler said, and then he dedicated a salute to the red robot that now placed Burns back to the ground. "Thanks for the save, Prime. But you shouldn't have let Starscream go."

"Starscream will not report this incident to Megatron, agent Fowler. Not with his dignity on the line. As for the saving, it's the least I could do. Specially when this incident happened because of me." The robot turned to Burns. "My name is Optimus Prime. It was I who wished to speak to you, and I offer you my apologies for having had to endure such treatment."

"At least it had a happy ending," Burns replied. He shook his head. Things were still so unreal. "So, you're an alien, then?"

"That is correct. My species has its origins on the planet Cybertron, far away from Earth," Optimus said. "However, we've been at war for a long time."

"Optimus is an Autobot, and Starscream a Decepticon," Fowler chimed in. "Since they arrived here, the government has done its best to keep them secret, much—ah, much like all the actual state of the technology on Griffin Rock. What you saw was standard behavior from everyone involved. And I can back up all of my claims."

"It's all right. I believe you." Burns took a deep breath, frowned, and looked at Optimus'… eyes? Optics. "Let's cut to the chase, shall we? What do you wanted to talk to me about?" By now, he was more curious than ever, but he was also determined to not let them take their war to Griffin Rock. While the technology was advanced and people were troublemakers, the island was a pacific community. A community whose well-being Burns was responsible and very protective of. Never mind that his children were there as well, and Burns would go whatever length needed to keep them safe.

Optimus nodded and began his explanation. "Even if most of us at some point chose one side or the other, not all Cybertronians are fighters. We recently found a ship containing four civilians I wish to keep away from the armed conflict, where Megatron cannot find them."

Well, that changed things.

"I believe I understand," Burns said. "Griffin Rock is sufficiently advanced so they could fit in with the rest of the robots we have."

"You are right again, chief Burns," Optimus said. "Furthermore, this is an experienced group of Rescue Bots, trained to handle all kind of emergencies. If you were to accept them, I'm sure they would become an asset to you and your team."

"So, this is why you are coming to me and not the mayor?" Burns asked.

"We spent a long time talking about it," Fowler said. "You really seemed like the best choice."

"Not only because you lead a rescue team, chief Burns," Optimus said. "But because everything pointed at you being a man of integrity and, as I am glad to have witnessed, of courage."

Burns felt his face go red. "You flatter me." He shook his head and folded his arms. "Ah. I guess we can try it and see how it works."

Optimus smiled warmly. "You have my deep gratitude, chief Burns." Then, he stepped back and transformed into a semi truck. "Please, allow me to take you back to the coast. We can discuss the details on the way."

"No problem," Burns said as he climbed up to the cabin, with Fowler doing the same on the other side. "So, all of you can change like this?"

"We have taken Earth vehicles as alternative modes to better blend in with our surroundings."

"Well, I say it works quite well," Burns said. He was starting to warm up to the idea. "I never thought I'd agree to harbor aliens in my house."

Fowler chuckled. "You get used to that. Autobots can be creative getting into trouble, but it's easy to warm up to them."

"Don't worry. I have a lot of experience with that," Burns said, looking ahead through Optimus' windshield. Seriously, what a way to start the week. He hoped this would work all right, but only time would tell.

 

And tell it did.


End file.
